I was listening to a conversation with a few schoolmates
today. There was this person who is a member of an opposition political party.
He was criticizing the government for certain issues that I would list down
below.
1. Foremost, it is the rising cost of living. One aspect
of the rising cost of living is the increasing rental business cost. In
particular, he addressed rising business cost for hawkers who rent places for
their stores. He says that there is an oversight by the government to prevent middlemen
from renting the places and then leasing them out to hawkers at a higher price
as this raises the rental cost for food centres. This raise in cost is in turn
passed on to consumers.
2. He criticizes the government for the influx of foreign
workers, which he argues decreases quality of living of Singaporeans. He says
that these foreigners who come into Singapore take up PMET jobs. They are able
to work longer hours because they do not have family commitments. As such,
employers prefer to hire them instead of the locals. He argues that this is an
unfair disadvantage to the locals, and that it runs counter to government’s
objectives to promote family life and encourage couples to have children.
3. He also argues that the lack of regulation of MNCs
that come in to set up their operations in Singapore. He says that these MNCs employ
foreign people from the west who have international expertise in management to
oversee operations. Locals are unable to acquire employment in these top-tier
management posts, which is a vicious cycle as they are then unable to acquire
the requisite experience.
I have heard criticisms of the current PAP government
from various people. I tend to be a skeptic, and would like to evaluate the
performance of the PAP for myself. I suppose I would like to take a bigger
interest in politics so that I will make informed choice when voting in the
next general election. The most recent topic of controversy would be the White
Paper on Singapore population that was passed in Singapore parliament by the
PAP-dominated parliament a few months ago. There was another mass turn-out yesterday
on labour day to protest against the White Paper. I have yet to evaluate the
merits of the White Paper for myself. On one hand, the PAP government seems
absolutely firm in their conviction that Singapore requires an intake of
foreigners to sustain its economic competency in the future. On the other hand,
there are many people in the public, and eminent opposition figures who see
this measure as a bad one that would have negative consequences for the people of
Singapore.
I am not sure who is right on the matter, or what would
be a better take on population policies in Singapore, and it could certainly
help with more objective opinion in the media from academics or experts
examining the issue.
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